Which department should children with fever and convulsions go to?

There are many diseases in childhood that require vigilance, such as convulsions caused by high fever, which cannot be ignored. So, which department should children with fever and convulsions go to? If a child has repeated convulsions, the problem is still very serious, and it may even affect the stability of the brain nerves and cause functional disorders in various aspects such as intelligence. In short, we must have a deeper understanding of the disease before we can treat it with confidence.

Febrile convulsion belongs to pediatric neurology. It refers to convulsions that occur in children when the body temperature rises to >= 39°C in the early stages of respiratory tract infection or other infectious diseases, and intracranial infection and other organic or metabolic diseases that cause convulsions are excluded.

It is common in children between 6 months and 4 years old. Convulsions usually occur in the early stage of fever and are short-lived. It is rare for multiple seizures to occur consecutively during a single febrile illness. It often occurs within 12 hours of fever. Consciousness recovers quickly after the attack, and there are no positive neurological signs. The EEG returns to normal one week after the fever subsides. This is a simple febrile convulsion with a good prognosis.

The onset age of complex febrile seizures is uncertain, often occurring before 6 months or after 6 years of age. Initially, it is a high fever seizure. After several seizures, convulsions may occur with low fever or even without fever. Sometimes, the seizures occur repeatedly, and each seizure lasts longer, more than 15 minutes. The EEG examination is still abnormal 2 weeks after the seizure, and the prognosis is poor. The probability of developing epilepsy is 15% to 30%.

A few people may have signs before an attack: extreme irritability or "startling" from time to time, mental tension; frightened expression, sudden increase in muscle tension in the limbs; sudden rapid, paused or irregular breathing; sudden rise in body temperature, drastic change in complexion; pupils of different sizes; and uneven edges. Typical manifestations are sudden onset, loss of consciousness, head tilted back, fixed upward or squinting eyes, foaming at the mouth, clenched jaws, and clonic or tonic convulsions of the facial or limb muscles.

In severe cases, neck stiffness, opisthotonos, irregular breathing, cyanosis, or incontinence may occur. The duration may be from a few seconds to several minutes or longer. Then turn into drowsiness or coma. Examination during or shortly after an attack may reveal signs such as dilated pupils, slow reaction to light, and positive pathological reflexes. Consciousness is restored shortly after the attack stops.

The above introduction has made it very clear as to which department children with fever and convulsions should go to. When children become ill, their families must be aware of the situation in a timely manner and not allow the condition to worsen, otherwise it will easily lead to complications and sequelae. In addition, the treatment of this disease also requires ensuring the correctness of the method and following the principle of combining prevention and treatment.